MPs and peers have said that more offences – including paid-for scams and fraudulent advertising, cyberflashing, content promoting self-harm and the deliberate sending of flashing images to people with photosensitive epilepsy – need to be covered in the Online Safety Bill.

The bill, which had its first draft published in May, seeks to put a duty of care on social media companies, as well as criminalising certain online offences and other far-reaching online legislative firsts, though the committee said it doesn’t go far enough in its current form.

Those behind the report said “we need to call time on the Wild West online”.

The committee’s report cited concerns that the Bill isn’t clear enough about what is specifically illegal online – giving an example where they proposed that pornography sites should have a legal duty to keep children off them regardless of whether they host user-to-user content.

Another big talking point is the recommendation that tech firms appoint a “safety controller” who would be made liable for an offence if there were “repeated and systemic failings”.

In line with this, there are calls for Ofcom – who is set to become the regulator for the sector – to be given the power to investigate and audit tech companies who fail to comply or make appropriate changes to accommodate the new Bill.

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Damian Collins, chairman of the joint committee issuing the report, said: “What’s illegal offline should be regulated online.

“For too long, big tech has gotten away with being the land of the lawless…. the era of self-regulation for big tech has come to an end.”

Other issues the report covered include that the Bill should cover not just content, but “the potential harmful impact of algorithms” and that it has to go further in stopping the promotion or “stirring up” of violence against women, or based on gender or disability.

Dr Rachel O’Connell, Founder and CEO of TrustElevate, commented on the new report, saying: “The Joint Committee’s recommendations on the Online Safety Bill are potentially game-changing.

“Specifically that platforms systems should be regulated, not just content. This shift in focus is hugely significant as it is the design choices and data-driven operations that platforms make that regulators should scrutinise.

“These include AI-driven recommendation engines that actively connect children to adults with a sexual interest in children, and content relating to suicide to children and young people who feel depressed.

“These insidious bad practices go to the heart of the dangers that platforms pose – the choices that platforms make when deploying AI to enable frictionless interactions and active surfacing of harmful content to ensure eyeballs remain glued to the platforms so that more advertising can be viewed.”

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